


metanoia

by ziyangology



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, dj!ziyi, side!yanren, yanyi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-14 12:09:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14769338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziyangology/pseuds/ziyangology
Summary: metanoia 一 (n.) the journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self, or way of life.





	metanoia

“dude, what’s the plan tonight?” yanchen asked yanjun as he returned to their shared room.

the dorm room yanjun and yanchen shared wasn’t exactly considered messy, nor was it the epitome of clean either. 

yanchen showed to be the cleaner of the two roommates. his side was less cluttered than yanjun’s. 

yanchen had at least made some kind of attempt to keep his things organized, his school work stayed on his desk, his clothes put away or in his laundry bin.

yanjun had some of his clothes on the floor or near his closet, others in his laundry bin, but it was difficult to differentiate which clothes belonged where. 

“qin fen’s party?” yanjun had questioned as he slid his bag off his shoulder, letting it drop onto his unmade bed. 

“why qin fen’s?”

yanjun shrugged.

“because we agreed on qin fen’s. also, wenjun said he and zeren were coming and i know you like zeren.”

“no, i don’t!” yanchen bashfully denied, to which his roommate gave a chuckle in response.

“okay, if you say so.” 

“you sure you don’t want to just go to qin fen’s because ziyi is djing?”

“no, of course not.” 

“so you’re definitely not bringing your usb, then?”

“huh?” yanjun looked at yanchen.

“you said you’re not coming for ziyi, so you don’t have to bring your music to get him to play it.”

“right..”

“so, give it to me.”

“why?”

“you don’t need it.”

“yanchen,”

yanjun met yanchen’s expectant eyes as he held his hand out. 

yanjun only took a step backwards.

“i don’t know why you’re so hell bent on getting ziyi to play your music.” yanchen said as he turned his back and walked over to where his phone was charging to unplug it.

“yanchen, ziyi’s popular. if my music got into his playlists or into his mixes, do you know how many people would be hearing me?” yanchen spoke up in a eager tone, his dimples showing.

“alright, whatever you say, man.”

* * *

 

the party was already in full swing when yanjun and yanchen arrived. when yanjun turned, yanchen was completely gone. yanjun released a breath before walking off on his own. 

he found the drinks easy enough and got a beer for himself. yanjun recognized a couple familiar faces which he waved to as he walked around. he noticed zeren on the couch, his arms full of yanchen to which he gave his usual grin as he past them. 

yanjun finally reached his destination. qin fen was definitely one for nice things. if his house was any consolation of this fact, yanjun would definitely agree that he liked to have finer things. versace suits, lamborghini, designer wardrobe, though he always kept his parties classic and simple which yanjun couldn’t deny he loved.

qin fen had a legitimate dj booth set up in his house. that was one thing that attracted wang ziyi and kept him coming dj at each of the older male’s parties. 

the booth wasn’t too big, the booth was surrounded in tinted glass which separated from the living room. 

through the tinted glass, ziyi caught yanjun’s eye as the male grinned to himself. he watched the older for long enough before he saw ziyi take a step back for a small break as he grabbed the bottle that sat behind where he stood, taking a swig of it.

that’s when yanjun came in through the door. ziyi didn’t notice him for a moment, ziyi jumped as soon as he acknowledged yanjun, almost knocking into his equipment which made yanjun lightly giggle.

“yanjun, what do you want?” his voice came out deep as usual, and yanjun would be lying if he said he didn’t love it.

“ziyi, hi, i’m good, so nice to see you too!” yanjun smiled sincerely in response to ziyi’s cold greeting towards him. 

ziyi shook his head with a small sigh, his eyes trailing to look at his laptop before meeting yanjun’s again. 

“you look good tonight, i really like this shirt on you,” yanjun complimented ziyi, his dimples clearly showing.

ziyi barely batted an eye.

“seriously, yanjun, please get out.”

“but一”

“i’m not listening to your mixtape or playing it.”

“zi一

“no.”

yanjun gave him one last look, silently hoping, begging ziyi to find it in his heart to tell him yes.

“go.” was all that left ziyi’s mouth. the younger male huffed, leaving the booth, wallowing in another failed attempt at getting the dj to comply to his one request.

ziyi stayed still. he watched yanjun leave, slightly shaking his head at how he could keep denying a kid who had such cute dimples.

* * *

 

yanjun woke up the following day with a slight headache, not from the alcohol. he hardly even drank the previous night. 

maybe it was from the vexing sunlight peering into his room. or maybe it was his phone blaring his ringtone from beside him. maybe a little bit of both. 

yanjun groaned into his pillow as he blindly felt around for his phone. after obtaining the object in his grasp, he slid over the screen to answer the call, holding it up to his ear, his eyes still closed. 

“hello?” yanjun’s voice came out groggy, as he hadn’t completely woken up yet. 

“yanjun, where the fuck are you?” chaoze’s voice came out on the other line. yanjun’s eyes popped open, pulling his phone near his face for long enough to look at the time.

“it’s 10:11.”

“yeah.”

“i should be in music theory.”

“yes, you should.”

“chaoze, oh my god. i’m fucking failing this class, and i overslept when i knew i had theory today.”

“you’re seriously slow this morning.”

the next few moments were filled with silence.

“yanjun?”

“yeah?”

“are you coming to class?

“yeah, i’ll be there as soon as i can.” and the call ended before yanjun started rushing to leave for class. 

“alright, there’s a little more than minutes left in class, i’m going to pass back your papers. you can quietly talk and work while i go around, ask me if you have any questions on anything,” professor li announced to the class before turning to pick up the stack of graded papers from where they sat on the desk. 

yanjun had made it to class as quick as he could, he felt grateful that chaoze saved him a seat.

chaoze turned to look at yanjun who had his head down on the table. 

“so, how was qin fen’s party?”

“unsuccessful.”

“as usual?”

yanjun raised his head to look at chaoze.

“why do you even care? you never come to any parties anyway.”

“i have a boyfriend, what’s the point?”

“it’s fun?”

chaoze opened his mouth to speak but closed it as professor li approached them.

“work harder next time, yanjun. i know you can do better.” professor li said to yanjun as he placed yanjun’s graded paper on his desk before walking away to approach another student.

yanjun huffed, glancing at his graded paper,  _ another low grade. _ he shook his head.

“seriously, you need to start working harder or get a tutor,” chaoze spoke up, making yanjun glare in his direction.

“really, i had no idea.” yanjun scoffed.

* * *

 

“so, yanjun,” zhangjing spoke up, causing yanjun to look up from his food and at zhangjing. “what are you gonna do?” he asked the younger male. 

yanjun blinked at the question.

“about music theory.”

“why did you tell him?” yanjun whined towards chaoze, letting out a sigh. 

zhangjing leaned forward, grabbing yanjun’s hand. “it’s okay, i want to help.” yanjun glanced at zhangjing.

“seriously, zhangjing, i love you, but i don’t know how you can help.”

“he could always ask ziyi.” xingjie spoke up, causing both zhangjing and yanjun to look in his direction. 

a smile broke out on zhangjing’s face.

“no, i don’t一”

“that’s exactly what you should do, junnie!!” zhangjing exclaimed enthusiastically, causing yanjun to hang his head with a small groan. 

“just think about it, okay? ziyi literally has a perfect grade in theory, so he could help you out.” xingjie patted yanjun’s shoulder. “and maybe you can convince him to listen to your mixtape.” he added.

and that’s what convinced yanjun.

* * *

 

yanjun maneuvered over the huge puddle as reached the other side of the street. it had rained all morning, the rain had just recently came to slow and light drizzle. 

yanjun and yanchen had made plans. they were going to head out to the cafe a block from the dorm to get breakfast. their plan, however, was put on hold due to the heavy rain.

yanchen kept complaining so yanjun just pulled on his sweater and decided to pick up the food for the both of them. 

it was still fairly early in the morning, and yanjun liked being out that early. it was quiet, it was easy for yanjun to think about certain things, especially since most of the world was still asleep. 

yanjun’s phone rang from inside his pocket and yanjun let out a rather angry sigh as he snatched it into his hand. he hastily answered the phone, holding the device to his ear.

“yeah?” yanjun’s tone came out frustrated as he was because he was sure yanchen was calling him to change his order for what would be the 5th time this morning.

“hey, yanjun, can you一”

“last time to change your order, i’m literally right outside.” yanjun cut him off. he leaned against one of the walls outside the cafe, right near the entrance.

“okay, along with my order, can you get a coffee and another bagel?” yanjun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“wait, what?” yanjun knew that couldn’t possibly be all for yanchen.

“zeren is coming over.”

“right now?” yanchen questioned.

“yeah, listen, i’ll pay for his food, can you please just do this for me?” yanjun let out a breath, thinking for a moment before responding to his roommate.

“alright, fine. i’ll see you in a little bit.” yanjun told yanchen before hanging up the phone. he shoved his phone in his pocket before reaching for the handle on the front door, pulling it open and walking inside the cafe.

the shiny, gold bells jingled as yanjun walked inside the small establishment. 

the cafe was a cute, little place that was popular mainly among the university students. yanjun had came here on dates before. the service is nice, the interior is pleasant to look at as well, and the food was quite tasty. 

the cafe was yanjun and yanchen’s usual location for their routinely breakfast dates. the servers who worked in the mornings knew both of their coffee orders by heart. and yanjun definitely couldn’t complain. 

yanjun waited patiently in line until it would be his turn to get served. in front of him was a rather tall male. he had a couple inches on yanjun, his hair was tied back in a ponytail. it took yanjun a moment before his realization that wang ziyi was the main ahead of him. 

zhangjing’s words from the other day rang in his mind. yanjun bit his lip in slight frustration over it. he closed his eyes, breathing slowly to stay calm in this situation.

the cashier cleared her throat and yanjun’s eyes popped up. he quickly moved up and spoke the order before giving zeren’s order and he paid. yanjun walked over to where ziyi was standing, waiting for his coffee.

_ here goes nothing. _

“hey, ziyi?” yanjun looked towards the dj who turned at the sound of his own name.

“oh, hey.” ziyi replied before looking away.

“i need a favor.” 

“yanjun, i’m not listening to your mixtape, i’m sorry. you need to stop asking me一”

“it’s not that.” yanjun cut ziyi off, making the taller male glance at him.

“listen, i’m failing music theory.” yanjun admitted and ziyi started to laugh.

“it’s not funny! seriously, i need to pass. and so i need your help.”

ziyi made eye contact with yanjun.

“me?” yanjun nodded his head. “lend me your notes, tutor me, please, i  _ can not _ fail this class.” yanjun looked at ziyi with all seriousness.

they held eye contact for a couple moments before ziyi broke it.

“alright, let’s meet at the library, tomorrow morning. don’t be late.” ziyi told yanjun who nodded at him with a smile.

“thank you so much!!”

* * *

 

zeren handed the cup of coffee to his boyfriend carefully.

“be careful, it’s hot.” he told yanchen as yanchen took it into his grip. zeren watched to make sure yanchen took over control of the cup and didn’t tip over the cup. 

“thank you,” yanchen gave a small smile to his boyfriend as he held the cup in his hands, moving further on to zeren’s bed to reach a more comfortable position. 

the layout of zeren’s room was similar to that of yanchen and yanjun’s room. 

zeren and zhangjing’s room was much more tidied up compared to yanchen and yanjun’s room. the styles of both males went well together and the room was kept up better due to how similar their personalities were.

yanchen and yanjun regularly hung out with zeren and his roommate zhangjing, given that two of them were boyfriends as well as the other two being close friends.  

“so, no yanjun today?” yanchen had taken a sip of the coffee as zeren spoke up after getting comfortable next to yanchen. 

yanchen nodded his head, swallowing the warm liquid. 

“where is zhangjing?” yanchen asked, moving to place the cup on zeren’s nightstand before turning towards the male. 

“out with chaoze.” yanchen nodded his head at the response. 

“yanjun had a study date with ziyi.” yanchen said, zeren’s eyes widened, glancing at his boyfriend.

“study date?”

yanchen nodded his head.

“with wang ziyi?” yanchen giggled at how zeren only repeated what he just said.

“yes! ziyi agreed to tutor him in theory.”

“how the hell did he manage that?” 

“i honestly couldn’t tell you. i’m pretty amazed.” yanchen said with a smile shrug.

“maybe he’ll convince ziyi to listen to his mixtape.”

“yeah, okay.” yanchen laughed. 

“so i guess it’s just you and me today.” zeren leaned in closer to yanchen who beamed back at his boyfriend.

zeren couldn’t help but smile back, climbing on top of the older.

* * *

 

the library is relatively quiet. there is the usual quiet chatter, the scratching of pens on paper, a few people are typing on laptops. yanjun spots ziyi sitting alone at a table that was about two tables from his usual table when he came to the library to study.

"hey," yanjun says quietly, sitting across from ziyi. ziyi says nothing but looks up from his notebook to acknowledge yanjun has arrived. he fishes into his bag without a word either, and pulls out a second notebook. across the front in big block letters it says  _ music theory _ and underneath is the day of the week and the time the class usual takes place.

"i've got to work on this stuff for another class," ziyi explains.

"but everything's in there. it's all dated, so it should be easy to find what you're looking for. if you have any questions you can ask me, i guess."

yanjun nods along to everything ziyi is saying and then once the other boy has turned back to his neat writing in his own notebook, yanjun flips open the one ziyi had handed him. it's filled with the same writing, neat and highlighted and evenly spaced. every single page is dated, just like ziyi said they would be. yanjun finds it to be a little intimidating. considering the normal state of his side of his own room, he isn’t organized in the slightest.

yanjun works in silence for a bit. he sort of wishes ziyi would talk to him because he'd be lying if yanjun said that wasn't one of the reasons he asked ziyi to help him out in the first place. 

but ziyi doesn't look like he wants to do any talking. he's biting his lip, face scrunched up. every once and a while he leans on his hand and bites the fingernails on his other, before something, an idea or a thought, strikes him and then he continues writing. yanjun tries not to sigh outwardly. he doesn't study alone often, mostly with yanchen, and when he and yanchen study it's nothing like this.

"um," yanjun clears his throat. he's decided if he wants to talk to ziyi, he's going to need more effort and a new environment. 

"my, uh, yanlei is having a party tomorrow, do you want to come?"

ziyi looked up at yanjun, he doesn’t say anything yet but the eye contact he receives makes yanjun nervous. 

“he’s a friend of mine, he just got a new place so he’s having a party to celebrate. i could text you the address if you’d like to come.” yanjun adds in, he can’t help but feel nervous as things are quiet between them for a couple moments.

“sounds cool.” is all that leaves ziyi’s mouth, it’s quiet again between them. yanjun can’t help but smile. 

ziyi doesn't show up an hour into the party, or two, or three. yanjun drinks a beer for every hour that ziyi is late but now he's halfway through his fourth. 

yanjun takes a swig of his beer and realizes two things. he's a) been drinking on an empty stomach and b) has now finished said beer. he decides, a little wobbly and buzzing beneath his skin, that he should try and find snacks. and maybe another beer. maybe.

yanjun shuffles through the crowd of people. some of them are dancing, some of them are making out and spilling drinks down the back of each other's shirts. the house is packed and someone's turned on house music with the bass loud enough that yanjun can see the ceiling tiles shake. he's wearing a beanie and it's starting to make him sweat.

somehow, yanjun finds the lounge room, where there are bowls full of ice and full of beer. or, half-full now that it's past time. someone is going to have to go on a beer run soon. there's a bowl of pretzels on the counter, and even more strewn about crushed around it. yanjun can't help it, he feels his stomach rumble just at the sight, and sticks his hand in to grab a large amount. he finishes every last one faster than he'd ever admit and afterwards, decided the fifth beer was deserved.

maybe a few shots? this brunette girl who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere was offering. ziyi also doesn't feel like turning down the brunette who's offering him a sip of her whiskey.

he grabs another handful of pretzels.

yanjun is drunk, stumbling and fuzzy-eyed drunk, when ziyi finally gets there. ziyi finds him out on the back porch, sprawled across the wood panelling with his shirt hiked up. 

"hey," ziyi says. he seems slightly awkward, but it's not obvious for yanjun to notice in this state.

"oh, ziyi," yanjun sits up, 

"hi? how's it going, you're late," he pouts.

"sorry," ziyi lifts his arms to scratch behind his neck. he sits on a wooden swing that they have on the back porch, just close enough to where yanjun sits on the floor. yanjun leans forward so he can rest his chin on the outside of ziyi’s thigh. 

"i had stuff to do,"

yanjun shakes his head.

"no, it's okay," he slurs, "don't worry about it."

they sit like that for a bit. there's a little bit of wind, it ruffles the bits of yanjun’s bangs that peak out from under his beanie and make the swing move ever so slightly. yanjun sighs contentedly, still leant against ziyi. 

"what are you doing out here?" ziyi asks.

"too hot in there," yanjun nods to inside the house. ziyi nods back slow, as if to convey to yanjun that he understands what he means.

“i’m gonna go get yanchen, okay?” ziyi spoke softly, moving to get up.

yanjun shook his head, grabbing ziyi’s arm from where it rested on the swing and tugging him back. yanjun hoped ziyi wouldn’t go away.

“i’m fine. just. just, stay here with me.”

yanjun stands and promptly nearly stumbles off the back porch steps. luckily, ziyi grabs him by the wrist, pulling him back onto his own two feet gently. he overshoots just a little or maybe yanjun is just too wasted and yanjun ends up ungracefully falling on the seat beside ziyi.

  
ziyi looks at him incredulously after that. yanjun can't help it - he laughs. ziyi laughs with him and for a moment, nothing seems to complicated. the house is playing music behind them but it's dark and quiet and cool outside, except for them.

“this is a nice party.” yanjun looked at ziyi.

“you think so?” he nodded.

“maybe would’ve been a good night to hear your mixtape.” 

yanjun’s head shot around in ziyi’s direction.

“wait, what?” 

suddenly, yanjun heard the music from inside the house go quiet. and then…

his beats, his music, his voice, it was his mixtape. he looked at ziyi.

“you…” 

“yanchen and zhangjing talked to me, i didn’t know how important it was to you.” 

“i listened to your mixtape.”

yanjun looked at ziyi, nervously awaiting his response.

“i loved it.”

and that’s when yanjun did it. it was so quick. suddenly his lips were crashed against ziyi’s. in a messy and hard kiss. he couldn’t help it. ziyi had always been the one he looked up too, he followed, and he just had to do that once. 

“i had to do that once.” yanjun had spoke slowly, feeling a little more sober after pulling away.

ziyi pulled yanjun close to him again.

“i’m not letting you go after this.”

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
